Mich. man guilty of polar bear trophy import

Mich. man guilty of polar bear trophy import    Rodger Dale DeVries, 73, a resident of Jenison, Mich., on Wednesday pleaded guilty to illegally importing a polar bear trophy mount in 2007 from Canada into Michigan in violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).
   According to the plea agreement, the defendant obtained a license from the Nunavut Territory in Canada to hunt and kill a polar bear from the Foxe Basin in November 2000. DeVries knew that polar bears from the Foxe Basin could not be imported into the United States, so the defendant had the polar bear trophy stored in Canada.
   On July 3, 2007, DeVries traveled to Canada. He picked up the polar bear trophy from a storage unit, and, along with his two minor grandsons, put the polar bear trophy in his own boat and traveled from a boat harbor in Ontario, Canada, across the border to port in Raber Bay, Mich. A few days later, the defendant moved the trophy to his home and then sold the boat, the Justice Department said.
   Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 8. The maximum statutory sentence for this criminal violation is one year in prison and a maximum fine of $100,000.